Dispensary Profile: Village Green Society, Boulder, CO

The Village Green Society is in a beautiful small Victorian house, one block north of the Boulder Pearl Street Mall. Upon entering, you could be in any type of upscale, Pottery-Barn-esque office with hanging spotlights, shining hardwood floors, and comfortable furniture. The place is warm, inviting, and hip.

Adam Odoski, one of the owners of the Village Green Society, is also an active participant in the legislative issues surrounding medical marijuana dispensaries.

He recently showed up at a Boulder City Council meeting with a four-foot check made out to the city for $600. This was in response to a proposed $8000 new license fee Boulder was going to impose upon the dispensaries.

“I made the check to show that here’s an additional $600 in sales tax revenue from our first month in business,” he explained. “Multiply that by 12 and you will have a significant amount of revenue that goes into the budget of the city of Boulder. Do you really want to put half of the dispensaries out of business due to prohibitive licensing fees?”

He added that a similar amount of revenue from the 105 dispensaries in Boulder could yield about $63,000 per year.

Odoski says that the city is working with dispensaries to come up more options.

“We dispensary owners have to remember that we’re on the frontier of a whole new industry; we’re pioneers,” he says. “Regulation has to happen and it will take time. Dispensary owners need to compromise and be grateful that the city and state aren’t shutting us down.”

The industry will thrive as long as it focuses on what it should: the patients.

“Probably 60 to 70 percent of our patients are over the age of 50,” he says. “They’ve got prostate issues, they’re cancer survivors and many are HIV positive. We want to grow the industry around the patient and what the patient needs.”

The Village Green Society offers a wide variety of strains and edibles, including banana and pumpkin bread, beverages, trail mix, and delicious-looking baklava, all made by local cooks. Odoski also emphasizes his array of topical medicines: salves, joint balm, lip balm and lotions. These don’t produce any high, but work to reduce inflammation and pain. Odoski, who has a low tolerance for marijuana, says that the balm has worked wonders on his lower back.

“We’re proud to offer the Boulder community a place to find real alternatives to alleviating pain and promoting good health,” he says. “At the same time, we’re proud to be positive members of the community and make a positive impact on the state of Colorado.”

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